Opportunity.

It took 18 days for my life to change drastically. This trip was filled with opportunity. From meeting with employees at huge media organizations to experiencing history being made, I truly couldn’t have asked for a better trip.

I had the opportunity to visit many huge media organizations and talk with their employers. We were able to sit in their fancy (and usually with a great view) conference rooms and talk about how the media is impacting the U.S. today and strategies on how to progress with the media in the years to come. Many of the employers had amazing advice to us. Some of the advice was reassuring and some made me realize how much work I still have to do before I enter the real world. I had the opportunity to look professional and act professional and get a taste of what these organizations are all about.

I had the opportunity to experience not only national history, but worldwide history. I was able to attend the inauguration and watch Donald Trump be sworn into presidency. I had the opportunity to stand in line for hours upon hours listening to Trump supporters chant and discuss their love for Trump. I was able to stand in a crowd of thousands of people there to support Trump while we watched on the big screen Barrack and Michelle Obama greet Donald and Melania Trump at the White House. I had the opportunity to see all these people coming from different parts of the U.S. (and of course the wide variety of diversity….Ha).

I had the opportunity to be apart of the biggest protest in the history of the world. The women’s march was put down in history as the biggest protest with over 2 million people participating. I had the opportunity to march with men, women and children of all ages and races and chant and cheer and uplift one another. I had the opportunity to witness some creative protest signs these people have made and their creative outfits. Most importantly, I had the opportunity to witness that there was still a large amount of hope and fight embedded in these people’s hearts. This gave me tremendous hope.

Lastly, I had the opportunity to experience real friendship. Going into this trip I only knew a few of the students, but not very well. Throughout the trip we had spent almost every waking hour together. Whether it was riding the subway, or getting lost and finding our way back, or sitting in meetings or family dinners, we always wanted to be with each other. Our group grew close the first day we started the trip and by the end it felt like a family. Some of us even bickered like siblings. In the airport departing ways for the first time in 18 days, I felt anxious and sad leaving my new close friends behind. I am beyond blessed to have had the opportunity to meet the amazing people I did and grow so close to them. I am sitting here in my dorm room in complete silence and I am wishing I was crammed with them in a loud hostel. This is how I know I met people who I would be friends with for a lifetime.

I wish I was back in the hostel as well. Sitting in my quiet room, I keep flipping through pictures and videos of our trip and lamenting being home. However, what I have come to realize is what you said above: we are going to continue these relationships that we have built together. Our community and family will stay as strong as our commitment to each other is. One reason I know this is true is we have unique experiences from this trip that have brought us close. When we need to unpack something or remember our experiences, the only people we can really do that with is each other. So do not worry about losing that sense of belonging (though I know it’s hard, because I feel it too) because we are connected and our ties are not so easily severed.